American Coot

[Andrew Merwin]

Mrk 3, ISO 100, 700mm, 0 ev, f/7.1, 1/400, tripod.

I shot this on a local irrigation lake shortly after dawn. It is sharpened, cropped ~50%, & adjusted slightly withe curves/levels. I think they are difficult to expose properly because of the white bill & the black bod. I also cloned out some debris in the water & leveled it.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Nice low angle Andrew and and some good detail in the blacks. Very well composed with great eye contact and pose. Many thanks for sharing.

[Randy Stout]

Andrew:

You are right about exposing coots. That bone white bill and dark plumage can really test your dynamic range.

I think you made a good compromise.

I know you rotated the image some, but it still seemed a bit off to me. In PS, connecting the bill to its reflection, it showed it needed 2.69 degrees of CCW rotation. I did that in the repost, and tightened up the crop a bit. I think the IQ held up OK.

Cheers

Randy

[Andrew Merwin]

Thanks Randy. You do good work. I like your adjustments.

Andrew